Recovery from surgery

Home nursing

Patients discharged from an ambulatory surgery center

Your home nurse will see you the first day to assess and evaluate your recovery status. The nurse will also administer any post-operative antibiotics that may be needed during the first 24hrs. They will return on a schedule based on your particular needs. The nurse will monitor your incision and evaluate your general health at these visits. Your special skin-tight dressing will be removed by your surgeon or nurse practitioner during your first post-op visit at three weeks. DO NOT remove your occlusive dressing yourself.

Hospital Patients

Your home nurse will see you the first day you arrive at home to assess and evaluate your recovery status. The nurse will return on a schedule based on your particular needs. The nurse will monitor your incision and evaluate your general health at these visits. Your special skin-tight dressing will be removed by your surgeon or nurse practitioner during your first post-op visit at three weeks. DO NOT remove your occlusive dressing yourself.

Physical therapy

Your home therapist will meet with you on the day of your discharge. He/she will then return daily at the start of your recovery, and then decrease to every other day as you meet certain milestones. You will be given a prescription for a cane and/or walker at your pre-op visit, you must make sure you have your walker and/or a cane at home prior to your surgery.  Since you cannot be discharged home without them, not having them will cause a delay in your discharge which Medicare will not pay for, thus making you responsible for the cost.

Your routine will consist of strengthening exercises and ambulation training to get you back to normal walking. Unless your surgeon has told you otherwise, you can put your full weight on your operated leg. Most patients will be able to move from a walker to a cane in about one to three days. Once you are safe on a cane and have control of your operative leg you can resume driving a car, usually after your first post-op appointment at the Hip & Knee Center, around three weeks from the date of surgery. 

Medication

Total hip replacement patients

As a total hip replacement patient, you should purchase a bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol 500mg tablets and take two tablets every six hours. You can supplement this with Tramadol if necessary. You are encouraged to walk if you develop any pain or discomfort. Since there was no muscle or tendon release during your surgery, spasms will be your only source of pain and these should easily resolve with walking.

Partial or total knee replacement patients

As a total or partial knee replacement patient, your pain will be managed with a series of long-acting blocks around the knee as well as physical therapy, ice, elevation, and medications. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen, Celebrex, and Mobic will be the foundation. These may be supplemented with Tramadol, or rarely with other pain meds as needed. With recent advances in pain management, our current programs utilize little to no narcotic medication in the post-operative period.

Access to expert care

Your Home Health Team has direct contact with your surgeons’ team at all times and are trained in post-operative triage and management. As a UNOVA patient, you have the unique benefit of being able to take advantage of the Home Health Team, the office or our dedicated after-hours team to address your post-operative needs. With this approach, we can address nearly all of your post-operative concerns without a visit to the ER.

You will be scheduled to see either the physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or your surgeon back in the office at three weeks post-op. You can expect 75 – 90% of your improvement after your surgery by three to six weeks. However, your joint will continue to improve for 12 – 18 months from the time of surgery.

Our goal is to get you back to your normal activities as quickly as possible, but remember that your soft tissues need some time to heal. Most recreational activities, such as golf, tennis, pickleball, softball, and bowling are all safe to resume at your own pace. If there are activities not mentioned on the list please feel free to bring them up with your surgeon prior to your surgery.